Reisz, that was nice !

Jason Atherton does one proud but it costs !
A spacious, comfortable dining environment with muted colours, crisp linen, your neighbour at a respectable distance and attentive staff who can provide reading glasses. Leisurely beginning with a Rumbullion - sweet, sour, strong and sharp; just as a cocktail should be and accompanied by a very large pork scratching with a lovely apple and parsnip (?) dip. Good start. Excellent bread and butter although they tried to take it away after the first course. What is this hideous habit one finds so often in English restaurants - bread's not just for starters ! I began with crab in a coriander vinaigrette with nashi pear; a flavoursome combination but the alleged "frozen peanut powder" was sadly absent. My next course was roast red mullet with cockles, prawn and a kind of catalan rice which was rich and delicious. All washed down with some excellent albarino wine. For desert, I enjoyed a goat's milk rice pudding with mango sorbet and passion fruit sorbet. And with this, I had a glass of muscat de rivesaltes - is there anything more heavenly than a first rate sweet wine ? No, I say ! You are probably thinking that I over-riced in this meal. Perhaps I did, but I enjoyed it all. I did think our meal was very expensive and so I didn't get that tingle in the taste buds you get with great food and good value. So I give it 7.5/10